PRUDY’S PROBLEM

and How She Solved It

Age Range: 6 - 8

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2002ISBN: 0-8109-0569-8Publisher: Abrams

A fiber artist successfully switches to paint and colored pencil for this breezy tale of a child with an extreme case of collectivitis. Like her friends, Prudy collects stamps, butterflies, and tinfoil—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as her room bulges with everything from “six hundred and fourteen stuffed animals in different unnatural colors” to assemblages of “interesting fungi” and tufts of dog hair. Despite strong hints from everyone, she’s in deep denial—“ ‘There is no problem!’ ”—until her room finally explodes from the pressure, scattering debris not only across the house but, as detailed in a spread of wordless panels, across the world, and even beyond. While friends and family sort through the mounds of stuff—all drawn with loving attention to detail in bright, comically busy scenes—Prudy searches for, and finds, a solution satisfactory to all: “The Prudy Museum of Indescribable Wonderment” (tickets 25¢) soon opens to waves of bemused visitors. Even children who don’t share Prudy’s addiction in some measure (if there are any) will pore over her deliciously quirky collections in this light-hearted debut. (Picture book. 6-8)